Hardware and token based user authentication

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for data visualization are disclosed. An example method includes: obtaining, via a user device, first user biometric data from a user; comparing the first user biometric data with first stored user biometric data. The first stored user biometric data are stored in a hardware secure element of the user device. The method further includes: determining that the first user biometric data matches the first stored user biometric data; and in response to the determining, transmitting a payment token to a merchant device. The payment token is configured to enable a payment to be made from a payment account associated with the user to a merchant associated with the merchant device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/199,637, filed Jun. 30, 2016, issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 10,546,297,the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to user authentication, and inparticular, to user authentication and confidential informationmanagement using a hardware component and tokens stored with thehardware component.

BACKGROUND

A user sometimes may have to give out confidential information (e.g., ahome address) or payment instrument information (e.g., credit cardnumbers) to a third party who is not well-equipped to protect it. Forexample, when financing a car purchase, a user may have to give a smallcar dealership her social security number, date of birth, creditinformation, and home address.

This may subject the user to future fraud, e.g., when a hacker stealsthe confidential user information from the small car dealership'sunprotected customer database server. The problem exacerbates when theuser has no strong trust relationship with a third party, e.g., amerchant located and operating from overseas or an online merchant withno brick-and-mortar store.

There is therefore a need for a device, system, and method, whichprovides enhanced user authentication and confidential informationmanagement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a system foruser authentication and confidential information management using ahardware component.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a system foruser authentication and confidential information management using ahardware component.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method for userauthentication and confidential information management using a hardwarecomponent.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a user device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a computingsystem.

Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are bestunderstood by referring to the detailed description that follows. Itshould be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identifylike elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, whereinshowings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of thepresent disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for userauthentication and confidential information management using a hardwarecomponent and software tokens stored with the hardware component.

When overseas, for example, a user may be reluctant to provideconfidential information (e.g., her passport number) or paymentinstrument information (e.g., credit card numbers) to a local merchant(e.g., a local car rental agency), from which legal protection againstfraudulent transactions might be difficult to obtain. The user, however,may still need to give out at least some information in order totransact with such a merchant, e.g., renting a car for travelling in aforeign country.

In order to complete the transaction, the user may authenticate herselfon a mobile device that she carries, based on her biometric data, e.g.,a fingerprint. Upon a successful authentication, the mobile device can,e.g., contactlessly, present a payment token to the merchant, such asthrough a “tap” or local wireless communication with a merchant device.The token may be redeemed or otherwise used by the merchant for paymentwith a payment service provider, assuming the token and/or transactionmeet restrictions set by the user.

The systems and methods described in the present disclosure can providea variety of technical advantages.

First, a user does not need to provide confidential information, e.g., acredit card number, to the merchant with whom she transacts; rather,only a payment token that is redeemable for payment with certainrestrictions is provided to the merchant.

Second, a user's biometric data is collected by and maintained on theuser's mobile device in accordance with user-specified data accesspolicies. This biometric data need not to be, and are indeed sometimesprevented from being, transmitted to an external device for the purposeof either authenticating the user or transacting with a merchant.

Additional details of implementations are now described in relation tothe Figures.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a system 100for user authentication and confidential information management using ahardware component, such as a fob. The system 100 may comprise orimplement a plurality of servers and/or software components that operateto perform various technologies provided in the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the system 100 may include a user device 102and a server system 106 in communication over a communication network104. In the present disclosure, a user device may be a mobile paymentdevice, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a mobilecomputer, or a desktop computer.

In one embodiment, the user device 102 collects user biometric data(e.g., fingerprint, voice data, and/or facial features) and compares thecollected user biometric data with the user biometric data 128 stored ina secure element 122 of the user device 102.

The user device 102 may include a biometric collection module 132, forexample, (1) a camera for capturing facial, bodily, or other observablefeatures of a user, (2) a microphone for capturing voice or otheraudible features of a user, and/or (3) a fingerprint collector forcapturing a user's fingerprint.

The camera may be a high resolution imaging device capable of capturinga user's eye color, hair color, the distance between a user's nose andthe user's mouth, the distance between the user's eyes, the length ofthe user's index finger, a tattoo on the user's left arm, and otherimmutable facial or bodily features of the user.

The microphone may be a high resolution sound collecting device capableof capturing a user's pronunciation of certain words, phrases, orsentences; and the fingerprint collector may be a high resolutionfingerprint imaging device capable of capturing a user's one or morefingerprints and palm prints.

The biometric collection module 132 may also compare biometric datacollected from a user with those stored in the secure element 122 anddetermine whether they bear a predefined number of similarities to eachother (and thus whether they match).

For example, based on a ten-point match between a fingerprint collectedfrom a user and a fingerprint stored in the secure element 122, thebiometric collection module 132 may determine that these twofingerprints match and therefore authenticate the user on the userdevice.

For another example, the biometric collection module 132 may apply oneor more image, object, and character recognition techniques to a photoof a user's left hand to determine whether the user's left hand has alight complexion, whether there is a tattoo near the user's left thumb,and, whether the tattoo includes the word “love,” as indicated by aphoto of the user's left hand stored in the secure element 122 or asdescribed by textual descriptions stored in the secure element 122.

For a third example, the biometric collection module 132 may apply oneor more voice recognition techniques to an audio or video content itemprovided by a user to determine the user's average voice pitch, speechspeed, accent, and dialect usage. The biometric collection module 132may then determine whether the audio or video content item provide bythe user matches voice patterns stored in the secure element 122 andauthenticate the user or not on that basis.

The user device 102 may include an access control module 130 forconditionally transmitting a payment or identity token to an externaldevice or presenting a payment or identity token on the user device. Forexample, after a successful authentication of a user, the access controlmodule 130 may, using a GPS device communicatively connected to the userdevice 102, determine a current location of the user device (and thusthat of the user in possession of the user device 102). The accesscontrol module 130 may compare the current location of the user to alist of user-specified locations to determine whether a token can beaccessed or used.

For another example, after a successful authentication of a user, theaccess control module 130 may, using a timing device communicativelyconnected to the user device 102, determine a time and date of a usertransaction, which requires a payment token from the user device. Theaccess control module 130 may compare the time and date of the usertransaction (e.g., Saturday at 3 am) to a list of user-specified timeperiods and dates (e.g., Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm) to determinewhether a token can be accessed or used.

The secure element 122 includes a hardware storage area for storingprivate data—such as a digital identification (ID) or a password of auser—in such a way that it is difficult to compromise (e.g., withmultiple levels of encryptions or access restrictions). For example, asecure element of a device may be located in a Universal IntegratedCircuit Card (UICC), a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, SecureData (SD) card or embedded Secure Element (eSE), any of which may beplugged into or otherwise connected with a user device.

In some embodiments, the secure element 122 stores one or more paymenttokens, one or more identification document tokens 126, and userbiometric data 128 known to belong to an owner of a payment account(e.g., a credit card account) or an identification document (e.g., apassport). In some embodiments, a payment token includes encrypted datathat, once decrypted, uniquely identifies a user's payment accountregistered with a payment service provider. For example, a payment tokenmay be a virtual credit card number (“123-456-789-00”) that is known toa credit card issuer or an account owner—but not a merchant that is inpossession of the virtual credit card number—that the virtual creditcard number corresponds to a particular credit card account(“4536-6898-5264-5978”).

In some implementations, the communication network 104 interconnects auser device 102 with a merchant device 210, and with the server system106. In some implementations, the communication network 104 optionallyincludes the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one ormore wide area networks (WANs), other types of networks, or acombination of such networks.

In one embodiment, the server system 106 generates one or more paymenttokens or identification document tokens per a user request andtransmits the tokens to a user device for storage in its secure element.

In one embodiment, the server system 106 obtains a payment token fromthe merchant device 210 (e.g., a POS machine) and provides a paymentfrom a user account identified by the payment token to themerchant—while affirmatively withholding (e.g., preventing) fromtransmission to the merchant device, information identifying the user orthe user account, e.g., the account holder's name, the account number,the expiration date and verification code of a credit card, or therouting number of a checking account.

The token processing module 152, in one embodiment, identifiesinformation stored in a user database 156 in accordance with a tokenobtained from a merchant device or any other device. For example, basedon a QR code received from a merchant POS machine, the token processingmodule 152 may identify a payment account registered in the userdatabase 156 as well as one or more payment methods (e.g., a credit cardaccount, a checking account, and a loan account) registered under thatpayment account. For another example, based on a PIN code received froma user identification verification machine (e.g., an age verificationdevice at a liquor store), the token processing module 152 may identifyan official or certified electronic driver's license registered in theuser database 156 and present information associated with the electronicdriver's license, including an image of the driver's license, to theuser identification verification machine.

The transaction module 154, in one embodiment, processes a payment basedon a user account identified by the token processing module 152.

In some implementations, user biometric data is not presented eitherfrom a user or from a verification computer server or cloud to arequestor system (for example, a POS machine, a security screeningmachine at an airport, or a passport screening machine at a point ofentry). Rather specific encrypted tokens related to these requests areprovided to requestors/systems.

In some implementations, the submissions of requested tokens arerestricted based proximity of user's registered mobile device to therequestor's location. This may be referred to as a binding process. Forexample, when a user device is within a predefined proximity (e.g., 10feet) to a POS machine, the access control module on the user device maytransmit a payment token to the POS machine; when the user device isbeyond the predefined proximity to a POS machine, suggesting that theuser is not conducting an in-person transaction, the access controlmodule on the user device may decline providing the payment token to thePOS machine.

In some implementations, the hardware secure element is a core componentto store and process user biometrics or any other tokens; user biometricdata is not transferred to an external device, such as externalrequestors/systems.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a method 200for user authentication and confidential information management using ahardware component and software tokens. The device 102, for example,when programmed in accordance with the technologies described in thepresent disclosure, can perform the method 200.

As shown in FIG. 2, the biometric collection module 132 may collect userbiometric data from a user. The user biometric data may include an eyeiris pattern 200, a fingerprint 204, and/or a voice pattern 206.

The biometric collection module 132 may compare the collected userbiometric data with the user biometric data stored in the secure element122 and determine whether there is a match.

If there is a match, then the access control module 130 may determinewhether a user-specified restriction is triggered. For example, if auser has specified that the payment token 124 can be provided to anexternal device, e.g., a POS device, when the location of the userdevice is within the continental United States, but the current GPSlocation of the user device is in China, the access control module 130may refuse to provide a payment token to the requesting external deviceor otherwise render the token unusable for the particular transaction,such as deactivating the token or declining authorization for use of thetoken. Thus, when details of the transaction violate use of the token,such as based on location, time, and/or amount, the token may beprevented from being communicated to the merchant device, the token maybe deactivated for that location and/or time such that even if the tokenwas transmitted, it could not be used for payment, and/or the token maynot be authorized for use by the token provider, such as when themerchant requests authorization from the token provider to use the tokenfor payment of the transaction.

For another example, if a user has specified that the identificationdocument token 124 can be provided to an external device, e.g., a POSdevice, when the location of the user device is within an airport, aliquor store, a government building, or any other places where alegitimate need for a user identification exists, but the current GPSlocation of the user device shows that the user is located in a highcrime neighborhood or other unauthorized location (such as set by theuser or the token provider), the access control module 130 may refuse toprovide a user identification token to the requesting external device.

In some implementations, the access control module 130 wirelessly, e.g.,through a Wi-Fi connection, a Bluetooth connection, or a cellularconnection, transmits a token to an external device.

Note that the biometric data collected from a user, for example, the eyeiris pattern 200, the fingerprint 204, and/or the voice pattern 206, isprovided to the user device 102—but not to the external device 210.

Further, the user device affirmatively, e.g., through data control,protection, storage, and other security policies, prevents the userbiometric data from being transmitted or otherwise retrieved out of theuser device in one embodiment. For example, after determining that afingerprint collected from a user matches that stored in the secureelement, the user device may digitally destroy the fingerprint.

This is technically advantageous, because a user may have confidence toprovide biometric or other sensitive data to her own device, but may nothave as much confidence to provide such sensitive data to an externaldevice over which the user may not have sufficient control, such as amerchant point of sale device or terminal. Also, user biometric data isnot compromised even when a breach at an external device occurs if thedata does not reside in the external device.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method 300 foruser authentication and confidential information management using ahardware component. The device 102, for example, when programmed inaccordance with the technologies described in the present disclosure,can perform the method 300.

In some implementations, the method 300 includes, obtaining (302), via auser device, first user biometric data from a user. For example, a userdevice may request a user to speak a sentence (“That was easy!”) into amicrophone and collects the corresponding voice data detected by themicrophone.

In some implementations, the method 300 includes, comparing (304) thefirst user biometric data with first stored user biometric data. Thefirst stored user biometric data is stored in a hardware secure elementof the user device.

For example, a user device may compare a voice pattern determined from auser speech with a voice pattern known to belong to a holder of apayment account, to determine whether the user speech was provided bythe account holder. A user device may compare a handwriting patterndetermined from a user signature with a handwriting pattern known tobelong to a holder of a payment account, to determine whether the userproviding the handwriting is the account holder. When a user device isequipped with a touchscreen, the user device may collect a user's palmor finger print and compare to that known to belong to an accountholder.

In some implementations, the method 300 includes, determining (306) thatthe first user biometric data matches the first stored user biometricdata. In some implementations, a match beyond a predefined threshold isneeded, for example, a ten-point fingerprint match, a 50% voice pitchmatch, or a 30% facial feature (e.g., a pair of small eyes and a bignose) match. A perfect or 100% match may not be required.

In some implementations, the method 300 includes, in response to thedetermining, transmitting (308) a payment token to a merchant device.When the biometric data collected from a user matches that known tobelong to an account holder, the user device provides a correspondingpayment token or identification document token to the merchant devicethat is requesting the token.

The payment token is configured to enable a payment to be made from apayment account associated with the user to a merchant associated withthe merchant device. The payment token is encrypted such that a merchantdevice or any other device that is not part of a server system of thepayment service provider cannot decrypt.

In some embodiments, a payment or identification document is generatedin accordance with one or more encryption and decryption algorithms(e.g., symmetric or asymmetric). A public key and private key pair maybe used to encrypt and decrypt a token. For example, a payment accountnumber may be encrypted with a public key and the corresponding privatekey is provided as a payment token and stored in the secure element of auser device. When making a payment, a user device may provide theprivate key to a merchant device, which in turn provides the private keyto the server system. The server system may then use the private key toidentify the corresponding payment account.

In some embodiments, a symmetric encryption/decryption algorithm may beused. For example, a payment token may be generated in accordance with akey (known to both the server system 160 and a user device 102). Whenpresenting the token for the purpose of making a payment to a merchantassociated with a merchant device, the user device transmits the tokento a merchant device. The merchant device does not possess the key andis thus not able to decrypt the token. The merchant device may, however,present the token for payment processing to a server system of thepayment service provider. Because the payment service provider systempossesses the key, it can decrypt the token to identify the correctaccount number.

In some implementations, the method 300 optionally includes, determiningone or more restrictions on transmitting the payment token to themerchant device or otherwise using the payment token for thetransaction. In some embodiments, the access control module of a userdevice may identify information collectable by a user device at the timeof a transaction and determine whether a user-provided restriction ontoken usage is triggered. In some implementations, the one or morerestrictions include one of: a location restriction, a time restriction,and an amount restriction.

For example, a user device may determine whether a merchant devicerequesting a payment is located in a particular country, state, city,town, street block, or region, as specified previously by an authorizeduser, e.g., an account holder.

For example, a user device may determine whether a transaction that amerchant device is requesting a payment for has a transaction amountgreater than a preset threshold amount or has transaction detailsdescriptive of an item that a user has previously authorized to buy orprohibited from buying.

In some implementations, the method 300 optionally includes, determiningthat at least one restriction is triggered; and in response to thedetermining, disabling the payment token.

If an external device is requesting a token in violation of auser-provided restriction, the user device may refuse to provide thetoken to the external device. For example, if a user has previouslyspecified that a payment cannot be made to buy liquor, then when a POSmachine identified as belonging to a liquor store is requesting apayment form a user device, the user device may refuse the request.

In some implementations, once detecting that a user restriction istriggered, the user device may further disable one or more paymenttokens for future uses. Because the fact that a restriction is triggeredmay suggest that an un-authorized transaction has been attempted, futuretransactions based on the user device may be suspended pending asuccessful user authentication or re-authentication (e.g., anotherfingerprint match).

In some implementations, the payment token is wirelessly transferred orcommunicated to the merchant device. For example, a payment token may betransferred to a POS machine using a Bluetooth protocol. This issometimes referred to as no-touch or contactless technology.

In some implementations, the method 300 optionally includes, preventingthe first user biometric data from being transmitted to a second deviceother than the user device. The access control module may affirmativelyprevent biometric data collected from a user from being transmittedoutside the user device. For example, voice data collected from a useris destroyed in an unrecoverable manner (e.g., overwritten with junkdata) once a determination of match or no-match is made. In anotherexample, user fingerprints or any related metadata, once collected by auser device, are placed and their access restricted in compliance withaccess control policies dictated by the user device.

In some implementations, a method for making available a useridentification document is provided.

The method may include obtaining, via a user device, first userbiometric data from a user; comparing the first user biometric data withfirst stored user biometric data, wherein the first stored userbiometric is are stored in a hardware secure element of the user device;and determining that the first user biometric data matches the firststored user biometric data.

In some implementations, the method may additionally include, inresponse to the determining, transmitting a user identity token to asecond device. The user identity token is configured to enable thesecond device to verify the identity of the user.

In some implementations, a user identity token enables an entity inpossession of the token to verify the identity of the user. A useridentity token may be an identifier (“AJKJKFDF**&”) that uniquelyidentifies a user in an official government database as a state employeetravelling in the State of the California as a person above the age of21 in general or as the U.S. citizen “John Doe” residing at the 105Beach Park Blvd, San Mateo, Californian, 94404, USA, more specifically.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a user device400, which can be the device 102 shown in FIG. 1. The device 400 in someimplementations includes one or more processing units CPU(s) 402 (alsoreferred to as hardware processors), one or more network interfaces 404,a memory 406, and one or more communication buses 406 forinterconnecting these components. The communication buses 406 optionallyinclude circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects andcontrols communications between system components. The memory 406typically includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM,DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices; andoptionally includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magneticdisk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memorydevices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. The memory406 optionally includes one or more storage devices remotely locatedfrom the CPU(s) 402. The memory 406, or alternatively the non-volatilememory device(s) within the memory 406, comprises a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium. In some implementations, the memory406 or alternatively the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumstores the following programs, modules and data structures, or a subsetthereof:

-   -   an operating system 410, which includes procedures for handling        various basic system services and for performing hardware        dependent tasks;    -   a network communication module (or instructions) 412 for        connecting the device 400 with other devices (e.g. the merchant        device 210 or the server system 106) via one or more network        interfaces 404 (wired or wireless) or via the communication        network 104 (FIG. 1);    -   an access control module 122 for controlling access and        transmission of a payment token, an identification document        token, or both, by and to another device other than the user        device 400;    -   a biometric collection module 128 for collecting user biometric        data (e.g., a fingerprint or a facial feature) from a user;    -   data 414 stored on the device 400, which may include:        -   first user biometric (stored in the secure element) 416,            which may include:            -   user finger print data 418, voice data 420, image data                422; and        -   second user biometric 424 collected from a user, which may            include a user fingerprint 426 collected via the fingerprint            collector 132.

The device 400 may also include a secure element 122 for storing one ormore payment tokens, one or more identification tokens, and userbiometric data known to belong to an authorized user, a camera andmicrophone 120 for capturing image and voice data of a user, e.g., afacial feature, a pronunciation, a tattoo, and other distinguishingbodily features of the user, and a fingerprint collector 132.

In some implementations, one or more of the above identified elementsare stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices,and correspond to a set of instructions for performing functionsdescribed above. The above identified modules or programs (e.g., sets ofinstructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs,procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may becombined or otherwise re-arranged in various implementations. In someimplementations, the memory 406 optionally stores a subset of themodules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, the memory406 may store additional modules and data structures not describedabove.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a computingsystem 500, which can be the server system 106 shown in FIG. 1. Thesystem 500 in some implementations includes one or more processing unitsCPU(s) 502 (also referred to as hardware processors), one or morenetwork interfaces 504, a memory 506, and one or more communicationbuses 508 for interconnecting these components. The communication buses508 optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) thatinterconnects and controls communications between system components. Thememory 506 typically includes high-speed random access memory, such asDRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices;and optionally includes non-volatile memory, such as one or moremagnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flashmemory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. Thememory 506 optionally includes one or more storage devices remotelylocated from the CPU(s) 502. The memory 506, or alternatively thenon-volatile memory device(s) within the memory 506, comprises anon-transitory computer readable storage medium. In someimplementations, the memory 506 or alternatively the non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium stores the following programs, modulesand data structures, or a subset thereof:

-   -   an operating system 510, which includes procedures for handling        various basic system services and for performing hardware        dependent tasks;    -   a network communication module (or instructions) 512 for        connecting the system 500 with other devices (e.g., a user        device 102 or a merchant device 210) via one or more network        interfaces 504;    -   a token processing module 152 for processing, based on a payment        token, a payment from a user account identified by the payment        token to a merchant and for providing information capable of        verifying an identity of a user based on a user identity token;    -   a transaction module 154 for conducting a transaction with a        merchant device; and    -   data 514 stored on the system 500, which may include:        -   a user database 156 which may include:            -   a user identifier 516, e.g., a user name, for                identifying a user;            -   a payment method 518 registered by the user identified                by the user identifier 516, e.g., a credit card account;                and            -   an identification document 520 for verifying the                identity of the user identified by the user identifier                516, in accordance with one or more governmental or                official standards, e.g., an e-passport.

In some implementations, one or more of the above identified elementsare stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices,and correspond to a set of instructions for performing a functiondescribed above. The above identified modules or programs (e.g., sets ofinstructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs,procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may becombined or otherwise re-arranged in various implementations. In someimplementations, the memory 506 optionally stores a subset of themodules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, the memory506 may store additional modules and data structures not describedabove.

Although FIGS. 4 and 5 show a “user device 400” and a “computing system500” and respectively, FIGS. 4 and 5 are intended more as functionaldescription of the various features which may be present in computersystems than as a structural schematic of the implementations describedherein. In practice, and as recognized by those of ordinary skill in theart, items shown separately could be combined and some items could beseparated.

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosuremay be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also, where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein may be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein may be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components may be implemented as hardware components andvice-versa.

Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as programcode and/or data, may be stored on one or more computer readablemediums. It is also contemplated that software identified herein may beimplemented using one or more general purpose or specific purposecomputers and/or computer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Whereapplicable, the ordering of various steps described herein may bechanged, combined into composite steps, and/or separated into sub-stepsto provide features described herein.

The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present disclosureto the precise forms or particular fields of use disclosed. As such, itis contemplated that various alternate embodiments and/or modificationsto the present disclosure, whether explicitly described or impliedherein, are possible in light of the disclosure. For example, the aboveembodiments have focused on merchants and users; however, a user orconsumer can pay, or otherwise interact with any type of recipient,including charities and individuals. The payment does not have toinvolve a purchase, but may be a loan, a charitable contribution, agift, etc. Thus, merchant as used herein can also include charities,individuals, and any other entity or person receiving a payment from auser. Having thus described embodiments of the present disclosure,persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that changes may bemade in form and detail without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is limited only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: obtaining, via a userdevice, first user biometric data from a user; comparing the first userbiometric data with first stored user biometric data, wherein the firststored user biometric data is stored in a hardware secure element of theuser device; determining that the first user biometric data matches thefirst stored user biometric data; in response to the determining,further determining a compliance with a specified restriction fortransmitting a payment token to a merchant device; and after the furtherdetermining, transmitting the payment token to the merchant device,wherein the payment token is configured to enable a payment to be madefrom a payment account associated with the user to a merchant associatedwith the merchant device.